Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am sure we can amiably agree to disagree on this point. I want to chase that 0.7% goal that we have set out. I know we are chasing a moving target in that our GDP is increasing and we have substantially, in real numbers, very much increased the type of funding we are making available through overseas development aid and climate finance. That said, I would like to keep the accounting separate, even if they add up to reach somewhere close to that 0.7% target, which is the North star that we need to be heading towards.

The other issue we need to consider in this space is the mosaic of funding that is often spoken about. Public money needs to be used to lead and to do the heavy lifting to de-risk private and philanthropic sources that will hopefully come in later. The quantum of funding that is required to meaningfully engage in climate finance is beyond the reach of public money, even with those very ambitious goals and that new collective quantified goal that we are hoping to see increased ambition on. I would reiterate that the local focus that the Government is pursuing in conjunction with the US is well worth developing. We know the co-benefits that go along with it.

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